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Food and Fashion — A gathering place for neighbors and students

As we sit down for lattes along Lowell Boulevard, at 50th Avenue overlooking the Regis campus, a young woman strolls up with a bag of clothing. A student at Regis, she greets the women I’m sitting with familiarly, talks for a second about the clothes – destined for resale as consignments at Fashion and Fun, one of the newest additions to the little row of shops – and steps into Dubbel Dutch for a sandwich and a latte of her own.

On this crisp April morning, I’m sitting with Eef Tulp and Trisha Litz, owners of Dubbel Dutch and Fashion and Fun, and co-owners of the strip’s latest venture – Food and Fashion, a combination sitting space, music venue, consignment store and lounge. Inside, they’re just wrapping up the physical construction of the new space, which will see doorways into Fashion and Fun, and a cozy, relaxed seating area where people can come, check out clothes, order sandwiches, finger foods, salads, coffee, and other refreshments, listen to music, enjoy Wi-Fi, and hang out in the nooks of the new storefront.

Food and Fashion is the culmination of a dream for both storeowners, who have each been seeking greater space – more seating for Dubbel Dutch, and more room for art and consignments for Fashion and Fun – but more importantly, a relaxed, neighborhood-centered place that will provide a hub for the residents of the Berkeley area and Regis students, where the two groups can relax together and form a greater sense of community. “I would go to her store, and she would come to mine to get coffee,” explains Tulp. “I told her I needed more seating space, and she had plans to rent the space next door. From the first minute, we thought, wow, this is going to be cool.”

“A lot of times, you get ideas to work together,” says Litz, “and it never goes anywhere. This, from the first moment, we thought: we’re doing this. Everybody is delighted – for one, it’s something positive, some action in the neighborhood, and for two, something is finally open late. Everyone is happy,” she says.

Food and Fashion offers more than just delivered sandwiches and coffee, and a chance to browse the racks of Fashion and Fun – a display wall will offer local artists a venue in which they can display and share their work, and a series of events every first Saturday will allow local craftspeople to teach skills from jewelry-making and beading to painting, clog-making, and myriad others. The space will likely be open on Sundays, when members of the Blues Society will be able to play their CDs – usually produced independently and unavailable in stores – for the patrons soaking up the morning ambiance, who will be able to talk with the artists and buy their music.

“There are so many people in the neighborhood that create things,” says Litz. “We wanted to be able to incorporate them into this.”

Open in the front, with wireless internet, cozy chairs, and tables scattered throughout the building, the venue will likely be open at night, with students running the store during finals and in the summer. But more than anything, Food and Fashion offers the chance to just relax when there’s little else to do on the weekends or at night in the neighborhood. “Our motto is relax, eat, shop,” says Tulp. “And relax first, just chill out.”***